Gecko: A Smaller, Faster Lizard - HTML with Style

Gecko: A Smaller, Faster Lizard

On Monday, December 7th, 1998, Netscape Communications Corporation,
makers of the world's most popular Web browser, Netscape Navigator,
announced the delivery of its new layout engine, Gecko, in a press
release. On Friday of that week Gecko was available
for download from Netscape's DevEdge Online Web site. But to most of
the people following advancements in browser technology, including yours
truly, this was no news.

Gecko has been available, in one form or another, for several months
now. What distinguishes this program from any other Netscape product or
in fact any piece of software with a target audience this size is that
it is an Open Source project. Those of you who have been living
in a cave for the past few years will get a chance to learn more about
Open Source later on in this article.

But before I proceed and tell you more about this piece of software
that can practically fit on 3.5" floppy disk, let me tell you this:
Gecko is the most important piece of software ever released for the Web
since Tim Berners-Lee wrote WorldWideWeb for the NeXT. Although
still at an early stage of its development, it shows every sign of
becoming the catalyst for nothing short of another information
revolution that has been years in the making. And I do not
exaggerate. Read on and find out why.